Keeping Up with Homeschooling Paperwork
In many states, homeschooling can be a bit of a challenge because of all the rules and regulations that must be met in order to do so. There are so many papers that must be filled out on a monthly basis in many of these locations that it’s almost like the Powers That Be in those states is trying to discourage anyone from homeschooling their children. They throw so much paperwork at you that it’s almost a second job just keeping up with it.
How to Keep Up With Homeschool Paperwork?
One of the main pieces of paperwork is an attendance sheet. This is where you must mark your children’s attendance every day that they have taken part in homeschooling classes. These are the states where your children are strictly required to attend a certain amount of “school days” per calendar year. Any day that classes aren’t held must be marked as holidays, weekends, or sick days. In these situations, be sure to keep perfect records because you’ll most likely be called on the carpet at some point to present these.
Something else you need to learn how to do is organize and file all school work and tests that your children have worked on. This is proof that your children have been actively working on school subjects. It also shows how they’re doing because this work will be graded.
Be sure that your state isn’t one that has a required curriculum. This can be a problem if you’re doing independent homeschooling or unschooling. You’ll need a list of the required subjects and how many hours are required for each subject. To make matters worse, you’ll have to find the right sort of books so that you can teach those subjects to your kids.
This can be a bit of a nightmare, particularly when you’re trying to be innovative and get your kids interested and excited about learning. When you’re subjected to a state-mandated homeschooling program, it sort takes all the fun out of it because you’ll still be teaching those tired, old, dusty and boring subjects that your kids were forced to deal with in public school.
There are still ways to get around this, though. Obviously, if you can afford to go through an accredited and approved homeschool program, you’ll probably be fine. You’ll have the proof to show the school board if need be, that your children are studying their required subjects. If you can’t afford those programs, you’ll have to become inventive. Of course, you’re going to be teaching your kids what they need to know regarding writing, reading, language, math, and spelling. Those are the important subjects. If your kids can do those, they can pick up anything.
Last of all, set up a filing system in which you can store every piece of paper that passes through your homeschooling day. If you’re called in to meet with the school board to prove that your homeschooling efforts are satisfactory, you’ll have everything they need to see, and then some.